On How to Keep Moving On After Failure

Hidden Nuggets Series #62 – “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed…That I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart…” – Psalm 27:13-14

Like some of you I’ve been watching the World Series for the last two weeks. My team is not in it so I’m not 100% engaged. But Kansas City is a fun, Cinderella story and my uncle likes San Francisco so I have a passing interest in what is going on.

What’s always intrigued me about baseball is how these men deal with failure. Imagine if you failed 75% of the time you tried to accomplish something. Hard to fathom isn’t it? You’d probably give up and at the least have a negative perception of yourself.

Yet that’s what happens to the average baseball player. A .275 batting average is considered respectable in the Major Leagues. Those who hit over .300 for 20 years likely have a chance at the Hall of Fame. It’s remarkable that those enshrined as the game’s best were beaten by the pitcher 7 out of 10 times.

In order to deal with that much failure I’ll bet they have several things going for them:

a short memory…

confidence…

stubbornness (to continue)…

and belief.

Where Does Your Strength to Believe Come From?

What keeps a baseball player moving on? How do they come back to the plate after having struck out the time before? Why do they deal with being sent down to the minors? What keeps you throwing the ball after giving up 7 runs in one inning as the Giants pitchers did in Game 6?

It’s the belief that they can do better.

I’ve failed at many things in my life. Sometimes I fail daily for multiple days in a row. It’s in those times that discouragement comes and blares its horn at me to give up. Often it even tells me I’m good for nothing.

Why deal with all the pain? What’s the point of putting myself into that setting again and again? Wouldn’t there be a better alternative than to face these life situations that keep beating me up?

I keep moving on because of my belief that I too can do better. And I know there is someone who can help me with that.

When my continual failure produces a mentally weak state, I rely on words like these from the Bible:

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed…That I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart…” – Psalm 27:13-14

God’s promise to strengthen my heart is an encouragement. It may take awhile (wait on the Lord) and it will require courage. And of course it requires me to be in the “land of the living.”

I take the phrase “land of the living” to mean that I’m still trying. No one’s spirit is living if they’ve given up. It’s dead. Cold. Unwilling to go on. How can goodness come when there is no effort?

The answer is that it can’t.

Believe in Yourself and Keep Moving On

Do you believe in yourself enough to keep moving on…to keep battling when you continually swing and miss? Do you have the courage to face failure again and again? Can you draw strength from God or from somewhere to keep moving forward?

Don’t let your setbacks make you feel like a failure. We are never going to hit 1.000. But it is the belief that I could succeed every time that keeps me trying.

Just ask the Giant’s how they feel now after Game 7. Bet they are glad they kept trying.

Questions: How does failure make you feel? How do you combat getting down on yourself after a failure? What or who strengthens you? What do you do to get moving on after a failure?

For my day job, I'm a high school government and economics teacher and school counselor at a private Christian school. In my off hours, I love collecting baseball cards, running my rental real estate properties, going on vacations with my four kids and hearing my wife talk about all the cool things CPAs do at work. You can connect with me on Facebook,Twitter and Google+.

Comments

Einstein told a group once that out of a 1000 times he never failed not even once. He just found 999 ways that did not work. To me failures are like roadblocks. You just have to find ways to navigate around them. Failing at something is part of life. It is how you navigate going forward that counts. Even if I have a successful day at work I evaluate each day for even the smallest failures so that I can learn from them and be a better manager.

Failure is part of the learning experience. It’s just a part of the process. You can’t succeed in everything you do, and I think failure helps put that into perspective.Myles Money recently posted…Halloween #SmartMoney Roundup

I never thought about it this way, but interesting perspective. Sportsmen probably are some of the most persistent people in the world, and they’re quite inspirative. I take failures as an important lesson to learn. It’s a part of life, and if I project positive thoughts into it, I know I will be a stronger person and more ready to face whatever comes next.Suburban Finance recently posted…How To Throw a Great Christmas Party Without Breaking The Bank

I don’t like failing but I know it’s part of life. What keeps me going is Im pretty resilient from the type of upbringing I had. I cold have easily fallen through the cracks but I wanted more from life.Tonya recently posted…Why I Redeemed My Travel Points for Cash

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